The Irregular Daily Dose ( Welcome for one time to legislators from across our nation. If you are a legislator and want to receive such between sessions, just reply to this with a note. Otherwise, you will only receive prayers during legislative season and a few times during elections. These notes are more 'teaching and instructional' in nature than the prayers and snippets you normally receive and go out about once a week.)
Micah 7:1 I feel so empty inside—like someone starving for grapes or figs, after the vines and trees have all been picked clean
Empty
Now that is a poor place to be. Every been there? You have exhausted yourself, come up empty, turn to look for some source of refreshment, and find not only is there no refreshment in sight, there is none for miles around you.
Some days can be like that. Others are better.
Building
After a 7 mile run in the mountains, I sprinted the last quarter mile. It was hot, windy, steep, dusty and longer than any normal run. For months I have been reconditioning my body so it would have more source. It had run dry from prior years of wear and tear. Muscles had become laggardly. Weight was pulling me down. Eating habits were lax. Just last year a mile on a flat surface inside was out of my reach. That 7 mile mountain run was the result of six months of conditioning and there was energy at the end.
What it takes.
It has taken changing my eating likes and dislikes. If it builds, I like it. If it lathers on fat, I don't like it. Choices.
It has taken honest introspection. Why did I let my strength wane? What happened to get me out of fit shape?
It has taken counsel. My doctor found a problem, a change in my system that was contributing to my condition. He told me fix it or live less.
It has taken courage and prayer. There is no reason to approach any area in life without prayer. The scripture is a ready source of strength. When the grapes are gone, God is good.
It has taken encouragement of friends. How often has a comment or compliment been really meaningful? A friend who notices is a friend who encourages.
Full
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me.
Turning our attention to the real source of strength brings eventual refreshment. It may not appear in a Pentecostal second. It may not drop from the sky in our path. It will come.
When it comes, recognize the source of your refreshment. Look to the future. Don't go back to the points and habits and haunts and relationships that build weakness.
Empty Yet Full
Most empty moments are not accidental. Some come from the curse of the universe, most come of our own choices. They are not caused by some amorphous external force out of our control. We reach them of our own accord and habits and relationships and actions. God is the God of abundance and provision. His vines and trees are always full of fruit. Turn to Him. Invoke His help. Follow His lead.
Every empty moment is full. It is full of His mercy, His grace, His provision, and His help. In the crucible of empty we can find the cup of Fullness.
Prayer:
And, Father, You are the source of all comfort and strength and energy and wisdom that lasts. Grace us. Give us wisdom to engage the empty moments with as great an expectation of receiving what we need as we do the full moments. Put a vision in our eyes for plenty in the middle of poverty. Show us how. Show us why. Most of all, open our hearts to be sensitive to change to be more like You and our eyes to be illuminated to see what we have missed.
Phil Larson 405-388-8037 Add:508 Tumbleweed Dr. Yukon, Ok 73099
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